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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

On the Road with the original florida kid - week 29

"On the Road" with the original florida kidHello again fellow truckstars! It's Week 29 and............you're on the road with the original florida kid....Grandma, Barbie, Pup the wonder dog and all the gang here at the ranchsay a big howdy "hey"!KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN"- Well let's grab an ashtray, a cup of Grandma's famous coffee and get to it.........I guess it's no big secret that a lot of drivers want to "shut down" for a day, in fact I see in the trucking headlines, some already have in western Pennsylvania. If it were only a nationwide thing and better organized......I really believe it WOULD have an effect....what effect I'm not sure....there's a rally on March 31st at the PA state capital, probably the same bunch......where you going to be at the end of this month?I still feel, and I've said this before, that if we're going to have a "major" shutdown, we need to inform the general public and I know WE "are" also the general public using fuel in our personal vehicles, ATV's, boats, campers(and all the other things we can no longer afford to use....), not to mention the 15 million or so "diesel culture" support industries folks we depend on and also depend on us, that are in and around the trucking industry, from the road service guys to the tire people to the truckstop help and so on.......Now when I say "inform", I mean, to get them "on board" with this thing....and from what I'm seeing on the news and everywhere else I don't think that's going to be a problem, in fact, in a lot of the online trucking forums everyday people are already giving and showing their support in growing numbers. EVERYONE is feeling this, and I know this is an obvious statement, but, many of us live paycheck to paycheck as do Jane and John Doe and their 2.2 kids....older folks and single parents with kids, students, business commuters.....the list is endless, so like I say I don't think it's going to be hard, to not get only get the public's attention....but their support....and it's just me sayin' it but I have a feelin' the shut down is going to involve a lot of 4 wheelers too.....and I also think, and this is what I'm saying, I think their support is absolutely critical and vital......we need each other right now......wha'cha' think truckstar?Listen to me......the investor community all admit or concede that the price of oil and fuel DOES NOT HAVE TO BE WHAT IT IS !!In other words, the price of oil is being manipulated by the oil producing companies, nations and cartels....and make no mistake, they are powerful groups with little or no regard for what they are doing to people......and what burns my ass is that the tree huggers don't want us or any other nation to drill off the coast of California, Florida, or Alaska or anywhere else that might free us from the hand around our throats by nations that make no bones about the fact that they already hate us anyway......the oceans and wildernesses of North America have a lot worse things to worry about than the after affects of drilling, and for your information, the oil co's are better at keeping the environment clean than any other industry(if the tree huggers want to crawl up someone's butt they need to go after the sugar industry that is destroying the Everglades and the water table of South Florida....or the mineral mining co's that are raping large tracts of land nationwide and in other countries....) Ohhhhh........right, the tree huggers get their money from grants and public financing, they don't pay out of their own pockets, they pay out of OURS........uhhh, me no like........In the last year I've seen the pay scale go down and the costs of running going up. (And I've also cut my running speed down to 59-63 mph, as per Dave Sweetman's advice, it helps but, well, you finish the sentence.....) It, like you I'm sure, costs me between 30 and 50 dollars more per fill up....meaning hundreds of dollars more per run.....to run. I'm back to where I was when I first started, making very little per run and it's starting to catch up with me when we're talking about monthly bills....man, what the hell ?We're not talking about some little niche market here, we're talking about the most important industry there is when it comes to our nations economic beating heart...the trucking industry.......and the kicker....is that the goods we haul we're getting less to haul and we're paying more for when we walk in the front door of the grocery store and Wal-Mart or Target, or even Walgreen's....the very freight we haul is biting us in the ass....all day,every day.....sooooooo....you want to "shut it down"? Let's do it....but don't let's run off half cocked like a bunch of crazies - Why? Because big business is going to lose a lot of money....A LOT OF FREAKIN' MONEY.....(that's why).....even if the "shut down" is only for a day and scattered across the country, and they are not going to be happy about it. I'm sure they're frantically pulling their puppet strings connected to the politicians they own trying to figure out how to not let the truckers do this, let alone cause change by doing it, and I'll bet they are scared to death the public will be on our side too.....and, truckstars, I believe they will be.....sooooo..what now?.......I don't want to be poor....I'm not afraid to work, I never have been.......but it's just not right that I have to work even harder....for less....Barbie's not well, she needs new glasses and a trip to the dentist, but we can't afford it.....this shouldn't be.......we don't drink, we don't go to bars, I haven't taken her out to a sit-down dinner since early last year.....we watch our money......we live meager lives, and we're still not makin' it because it costs to much to live and work......what?........I SAID - WHAT ??? and it's not just us either, everyone we know, even our relatives with good jobs are feeling it......Barbie's brother Scotty just lost his job at a factory in Michigan, a place he's worked at for 15 years because they moved off shore, he has 2 small girls and his wife is dying of cancer....and we can't help him !!......I have my map and my flashlight....and I still can't find My America........take the flags down off the flag poles and drape them around your shoulders....you're going to need them because there's a cold wind blowin' across this land....and it's getting colder by the minute......Truckstars, I'm going to cut it off here this week....honestly, right now I don't give a crap about NASCAR, the PBR, mobile internet, vitamins or anything else I usually write about....I'm sorry.I just got a call for a 1200 mile run and I need to figure out how and if I'm going to make any money.......Please God Please...........So - until next week - Please pray for us all, our Nation(it used to be under God but I think it moved....) the lost, and the ever growing numbers of abused kids and older folks that need food and medicine......You're always in my thoughts and prayers..............you're on the road with the original florida kid......over and out..........

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